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AMERICAN WINDSURFER MAGAZINE
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NEIL PRYDE CORE, ZONE & NR SIGNATURE WAVE SERIES
It began with freestyle/freeride champion Josh Stone wanting a sail he could call his own. He’d been sailing in late light on Fiji, and had trouble seeing through the window, because of the scratches and sponsors’ stickers. Rosenblad gave him a big eye-shaped window, and it looked so cool that Polakow and Dunkerbeck said they wanted sails with their stamps on them, too. Ding. Can you spell Marketing Opportunity?
So the Core solved that first technical problem; all those sailors who sail with scratched windows and sponsors’ stickers in late light on Fiji are now covered. Rosenblad then turned his attentions to Polakow. “The prototype had these huge banana-shaped boomerang things all over it. I thought it looked totally insane, like nothing else on the water. Jason immediately loved it.”
Two down. You got a cool eye-shaped window for Josh, huge banana-shaped boomerang things for Jason, and now Bjorn, who had just won the overall world championship for a 10th time. Mr. No-nonsense. Better give the man just what he wants, no more. Power and flexibility. He don’t need no stinkin’ panels with funny shapes. Such silliness is “for those who like to be noticed,” as Pryde says, further telegraphing its design.
Visual elements aside, clearly these pros can’t afford to sail on something that doesn’t perform well, assuming that their sails are production sails. Certainly Josh Stone is pleased and impressed with Pryde’s responsiveness.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen a company really allow the riders to get this involved,” he says, either pointing out or forgetting that Pryde ain’t dumb. There’s something in it for them, too, and they’re getting their money’s worth out of Stone’s name and his very genuine and marketable personality—which he spread like half-Hawaiian (his ethnic chemistry) sunshine around our test site, along with his lovely wife Amy and beautiful blue-eyed baby boy, Harley.
The four-batten Core is soft and maneuverable, good for flying, and that big window has a function: to see more of the wave face. For 2000, the luff curve has been reduced with a new Dacron panel, moving the draft forward to make depowering easier. The leech is scalloped, or in Pryde-speak it features Batwing Leech Technology (BLT), a cool-looking cut that allegedly reduces flutter and thus drag.
Conveniently, Polakow likes his power low and forward, like Stone, although he likes a bit more of it, so the Zone gets a fifth batten. He likes twist to get him out of the radical situations he likes to get into, often upside-down. He needs range because you c
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CORE 4.4
Mast: 400/19 Boom: 159
Battens: 4 Cams: NONE
Weight: 7/3.2kg Speed: 4.00 Power: 4.13 Stability: 3.89 Range: 3.75 Wtrstart: 4.13 Overall: 3.98 Price: $509
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an’t exactly switch sails in a wave event. Same refined luff curve as the Core, same batwing leech.
Be careful with the NR. Just because Dunkerbeck is your idol doesn’t mean you can handle his sail. You’ll be happier on a sail that represents who you are, not who you wannabe. Evidently a lot of our testers at least wanted a taste of what it’s like to be Bjorn, because the five-batten 5.0 NR was the most popular sail in the test. They found it hair-trigger sensitive to downhaul and outhaul: tune it right and it will fire you forward like a cannonball blasted from a pirate ship; tweak it wrong and it will toggle-switch you off the gangplank.
CORE 4.4
SCORE: (8 ratings)
Speed 4.0 Power 4.13 Stability 3.89 Range 3.75 Waterstart 4.13 Overall 3.98
COMMENTS:
“I pulled out my Easy Rig and downhauled the 4.4 Core into a 4.0,” said Jackie Butzen, using resourcefulness to keep from being blown off the water. “It worked. The sail was easy to handle, and still had power when flattened to the max, although the speed was not the best tuned like that. The leech rattled a bit, and it was unstable in the strongest gusts, but overall it was relatively easy to sail considering I would normally be on a sail a full meter smaller.”
“Amazing!” said Randy Johnson, who sells them, and who gave it straight 5’s. “The powerful bump-and-jump sails were all too heavy on the back hand for me, just not strong enough to power through wave turns, whereas the Core was easy.”
STAFF: Andy Gurtner gave it 3’s in Speed, Power and Range, 4 in Stability and 5 in Waterstart.
ZONE 4.7
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ZONE 5.0
Mast: 430/21 Boom: 167
Battens: 5 Cams: NONE
Weight: 7.5/3.4kg Speed: 4.00
Power: 3.835 Stability: 4.25 Range: 4.00 Wtrstart: 3.92 Overall: 3.97 Price: $529
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SCORE: (7 ratings)
Speed 4.29 Power 4.0 Stability 4.29 Range 4.0 Waterstart 4.33 Overall 4.20
CO
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ZONE 4.7
Mast: 400/19 Boom: 161
Battens: 5 Cams: NONE
Weight: 7.3/3.3kg Speed: 4.29 Power: 4.00 Stability: 4.29 Range: 4.00 Wtrstart: 4.33 Overall: 4.20 Price: $549
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MMENTS: None
ZONE 5.0
SCORE: (12 ratings)
Speed 3.67 Power 3.83 Stability 4.0 Range 4.0 Waterstart 3.92 Overall 3.97
COMMENTS:
“Light, well balanced, spills wind well.”
“Comfortable even overpowered in waves,” said Marco DeMoraes. “It luffs well and survives big whitewater!”
“It didn’t feel any faster than the 4.2 and 4.7 Windwings I sailed today,” said Jackie Butzen.
STAFF: Andy Gurtner gave it a 3 in Speed, 4’s in Power, Stability and Range, and 5 in Waterstart.
NR 5.0
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NR 5.0
Mast: 430/21 Boom: 170
Battens: 5 Cams: NONE
Weight: 7.5/3.4kg Speed: 4.05 Power: 4.05 Stability: 4.20 Range: 3.85 Wtrstart: 4.20 Overall: 4.12 Price: $539
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SCORE: (20 ratings)
Speed 4.05 Power 4.05 Stability 4.2 Range 3.85 Waterstart 4.2 Overall 4.12
COMMENTS:
“Sailed it once, the power was thrilling. Sailed it twice, couldn’t control it. The difference was all in the outhaul.”
“Handled well even overpowered,” said our freestyle dabbler, definitely not an NR kind of guy, let alone an overpowered NR guy.
“Good all-around sail, stable and powerful.”
“Very well balanced but a little heavy,” said Coach, who sailed it underpowered and gave it straight 3’s with a 2 in Waterstart. They’re sold across the street from his own shop.
Except he wasn’t totally sure if it was the NR or the Zone or the Soul he was testing. Maybe the score should have been thrown out. But there’s also the matter of keeping the picture well-balanced, like the sail. Read the next comment.
Randy Johnson gave it straight 5’s, but commented, “Heavy on the back hand.” Let’s get this straight. He gave the Core straight 5’s (“Amazing!”), largely because it wasn’t heavy on the back hand. The NR was heavy on the back hand, but still gets straight 5’s. A paradox? Well, he does sell them. The paradox fades a bit.
Let’s look on the positive side, and give Randy points for noting he found the NR heavy on the back hand. And Coach for finding it well-balanced.
STAFF: Speed 4.33, Power 5.0, Stability 4.67, Range 4.0, Waterstart 5.0, Overall 4.6, from three staff testers.
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